Amanda and Aaron: “I decided to sign on to JDate to see if I had any messages…”

After a long road with a lot of ups and downs, I finally met the man I had been asking the universe to send me. I had a rough year in 2008; my dad passed away suddenly and I had become the new husband for my mother.

I was living on my own with some friends at the time and I was her only source of support and financial income. My brother was still at college so I did what was important and came home to live and help my mom out. My mom and dad had been married for 23 years and he passed away just a month shy of my mom’s 50th birthday. It was an extremely difficult time for the family and a very lonely time for me.

After about a year, I decided to go back to JDate like I had done many times before (I had previously met a few long term boyfriends on the site). I signed up for a 3-month term and dived right in. I knew that after a year of hard times I needed to move on with my life, to some extent, and attempt to keep my life going because I knew my dad would want me to be happy.

After the 3-month run on JDate, I was a little frustrated. I had met a lot of nice guys (some jerks, too), but no one I really connected with on that romantic, take my breath away level. I was working overnights at a local NY news station at the time. I would get home at 5am every morning. One day in January I couldn’t sleep and decided to sign on to JDate and check to see if I had any messages. I happened to look and see “who was on” at the time and clicked on the profile that would change my life. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but his tag name was DJatown. Looking at his photos, I thought he was so cute. He was exactly my type. Dark hair, tall, handsome and JEWISH! But I quickly realized he was from Florida and I was from New York so I figured it wouldn’t go anywhere; I closed it out, and went to bed.

The next day I had a message from him. I was excited because I couldn’t believe this guy found my profile and pictures likable enough to message me. “Hi, my name is Aaron. I’d love to chat sometime.” We emailed back and forth for a few days before he asked for my number. We’ve talked every day since then. Texting, Skyping, emailing, phone calls that would last for hours; I was hooked, but in the back of my mind the distance made me think it would never work. After 3 months of talking, Aaron asked me to be his girlfriend. I was floored. How could a guy I had never physically met want to title me as his girlfriend? I said yes, because deep down I knew he was the one. Emotionally we connected on every level. He was patient and kind and made me laugh. We decided to make it work and he booked a flight to come to NY and see me.

In June, Aaron and I met in person. I picked him up from the airport and waited nervously and anxiously to see his face and put my arms around him. After he landed, he called me and stayed on the phone with me until he got to the baggage claim where I was waiting. I didn’t see him, but he saw me. He hid behind a pole and kept telling me on the phone that he saw me and I looked so beautiful; after a few minutes of playing around (which seemed like a lifetime), he came out from behind the pole and he was everything I knew him to be. I jumped into his arms and we kissed. It was perfect. He and I matched, like puzzle pieces.

We spent a long weekend together in NYC seeing the sites, carriage rides through Central Park and Aaron even met my mom and brother (and still stuck around). We spent the next year flying back and forth to see each other. In September, we decided we couldn’t live apart anymore, but we still had a problem; I was still not only financially bound to my mom, but she had had a mishap with diabetes and had to have a partial amputation of her toe. I was now the sole financial breadwinner of the home. Aaron understood the situation and without hesitation said he would move his life to NY.

We are now two years going strong living in NY at my mom’s house. She is finally back on her feet and able to work. Aaron took me on a trip to Disney in October and proposed! We are getting married October 2012 here in Long Island; I am so excited to marry my best friend. I know my dad would love him and, although he can’t be there to walk me down the aisle on my special day, I know he will be looking down at me, proud of the woman I have become and proud that I found a man who will take good care of me like he did for my mom for the time he had with her.

One Comment »

Thanks for posting your beautiful story. Amanda, thanks for sharing your personal struggles, which I could really identify with. Me & my siblings also live with our Mother, since she needs help & my Father passed away just a few months ago. Although we aspire for our own families, we feel that for now we need to be helping as much as we can to the household that gave to us endlessly, but some people look at it as an unnatural thing (including a guy I was dating & his parents).

Thanks for showing me that I could have both, and that the right guy will love me regardless & unconditionally.

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